Life Begins ...

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone is well here in blogland. I have been AWOL for the past few months I'm afraid ... work has rather taken over my life sad to say, to the extent that I haven't really found time for any cardmaking or blogging, nor much even for baking or socialising ... but today I have my first card in over 5 months to show you!

During the past few months I have been raiding my card stash whenever a birthday etc. has come along ... but today one of my good friends is 40 so I thought I really ought to pull my finger out to make her a card - and here it is.

I was actually quite nervous making this, as it has been so long that I could scarcely remember what supplies I had available, and I sat gazing aimlessly at my stamps and papers for a while waiting for inspiration to come. in fact i resorted to flicking  back through my blog for past examples, and that was when I decide to go with this gorgeous vintage handbags stamp .. what could be more perfect for a girly 40th card?  

One of my main worries was colouring after so long ... I did find it to be a bit of a challenge as I am definitely well out of practice, but I wasn't too displeased with the results all things considered.

This is an 8" * 8" card which I always like for special occasions, and gives plenty of room to decorate!! :-)

Normally when I make a 6" * 6" card, if it is very dimensional (as most of them are) I just stick it in a square CD mailer padded envelope .... but this card was too big for that so I also ended up making a  co-ordinating box! The papers don't match exactly as i didn't have enough, but i think the general theme is there.

Stamps:  LotV "handbags" and "Everyday Grungy Sentiments"; Penny Black "To You" (2908F) (on box);

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; Stampendous "frantage" embossing powder;

Papers: Maja Designs "Sofiera";

Supplies: Various flowers including most from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls and pearl hearts from The Hobby House; lace from John Lewis; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: "Floral Ovals" nestabilities; Joycrafts butterfly die; numbers cut using Cuttlebug "Hippy Chick" die set.

Challenges:

MAWTT - Feeling A Little Vintage

Crafty Ribbons - Celebration With Ribbon

Creative Card Crew #68 - Embossing 

Southern Girls - It's All About The Texture

Papertake Weekly - To Die For

Penny Black & More - Anything Goes

Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes

Bearly Mine (August) - Anything Goes

Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes

Simon Says (Monday) - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting today .. I'll try hard not to leave it so long next time!

Hugs,

Something different again ....

I was fortunate enough recently to win a voucher for DigiStamp Boutique, and as I've got a couple of days' holiday from work (yippee!), this morning I chose and downloaded my images - it was quite difficult to choose as there were so many gorgeous ones, but I got there in the end!

I don't often use digis, and when I have in the past I have just printed them off and coloured them in. This time, though, I decided to experiment with one or two techniques printing straight to my base card and/or designer paper, and layering images. Here are the results ...

My first card was very much influenced by an example on the DigiStamp Boutique website here; and involved resizing my flower image and printing straight to a pre-cut piece of dp, along with a computer generated sentiment. I then coloured the flower tips using a white gel pen.

Stamps: Digistamp Boutique "Sketchy Flowers";

Supplies: pearls, ribbon and paper from my stash;

Tools: Cheery Lynn "Queen Anne Lace" die.

Challenges:

Kaboodle #215 - Use Green

Craft Your Passion #205 - Go Green

Corrosive #195 - Go Green

Ribbon Girl Colour Challenge - Green

Divas By Design - Flower Power

Totally Papercrafts #211 - Beautiful Borders

Crafty Ribbons #81 - Anything Goes With Ribbon

My layout of my second card was heavily influenced by a card I was once sent by the lovely Katina, who has designed for DigiStamp Boutique. This one was a lot more difficult than it looks as it was very tricky to align the printing to the correct part of the card to accommodate the fold, and then also print it onto patterned paper. It took quite a few goes to get this one right, but I have saved the "template" so it will be easier next time lol!

Stamp: DigiStamp Boutique "Dress and Mannequin Set";

Paper: LotV "Shabby Shack";

Supplies: gems from The Hobby House; flower and ribbon from my stash.

Challenges: 

Created With Love #78 - Girly

Papertake Weekly - For A Girlie

Ooh La La #152 - For A Special Lady

Crafty Catz #223 - Bling it Up!

That's all for today - enjoy your weekend!

hugs,

Getting inky with Stampin' Up!

Hi everyone .. well it's something rather different from me today.

My friend and fellow craftaholic Lil invited me to come along to a crafting workshop she had heard about. It was given by Helen Ding, an independent Stampin' Up demonstrator, and was held in Warrington near where I work.

I'm totally unfamiliar with Stampin' Up products so thought I would go along to see what was what, and also just for the social side of an evening out with fellow crafters.

The aim of the class was to do various techniques for getting ink to paper ... including the "baby wipe" technique with reinkers, and using dye-ink marker pens to colour images and/or ribbon (I'd never coloured ribbon before!!).  

The whole thing was very enjoyable, and here's what I made ...

The flower on this one was coloured with Stampin' Up marker pens.

This one used the "baby wipe" technique with re-inkers to create a stamped sentiment in 2 colours.

This one was supposed to be a Mother's Day card, but having lost my mum so recently I just had to choose a different sentiment for it!!

The image on this one was also coloured using marker pens. 

All the cards had teeny flowers created using the "baby wipe" technique to create a dual colour on the image.

All the products used on these cards are by Stampin' Up - Helen has got more details on her blog here.

The style of these cards is rather different from what I usually make and I'm not sure whether they are really "me"; but it was great fun making them and thinking about things in a different way. I was actually quite shattered by the end of it as I'm normally quite leisurely paced in my crafting, so to make 4 cards in 2 hours (including finding each stamp I wanted on the table and then playing swapsies with the  other ladies) required me to get quite a wriggle on lol!  I also got me quite confused swapping my trusty Cuttlebug for a Bigshot which I'd never used before, but I rather liked the magnetic plate as it held in place all the dies which were placed over co-ordinating stamps, very nicely!

Anyhow I came away with my Stampin' Up catalogues which I've been looking through over the past couple of days, and there are certainly some very interesting products!

I'm not enetering these cards into any challenges as theya re not my own original designs, but i just thought I'd like to share them with you today.

Thanks for visiting, and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

hugs,

Special wishes for a special lady

Hi everyone, hope you are enjoying your weekend.

I would like to show you today a card I made for my dear bloggy friend Jennifer, whose pussy cat Pally sadly passed away a couple of weeks ago. Poor Jennifer is devastated as she is a big animal lover and thinks of her pets as her second family; so this was just to let her know I was thinking of her.

It was quite difficult to know what to make as I have never made a card for this particular eventuality before ... so I just went for a soft gently slightly distressed look, but not quite so overtly purple as I would tend to use for a human sympathy card.   Anyway, Jennifer has now received it and seemed to like it (it has to go all the way to Australia), so hopefully I was on the right track!

Stamps: sentiment from Penny Black transparent set "Hugs!";

Media: sentiment stamped "tea dye" and flowers distressed wtih "dusty concord" Tim Holtz distress inks;

 Papers: LotV "Timeless Victorian", with edges distressed with my Tim Holtz distressing tool;

Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and Hobbycraft; pearl hearts from The Hobby House; pearl brads, spacers and wooden butterflies from my stash;

Tools: "Floral ovals" nestabilities; Simon Says Stamp "Fresh Daisies" die; Marianne D "Forest Branch" die; EK Success large flower punch.

Challenges:

Frilly & Funkie - Neglected Dies 

(both the dies on this card really!)

Simon Says Monday - D is for Distress

A Gem of a Challenge #115 - Special Lady

Sweet Stampin' - Special Lady

Papertake Weekly - Bingo! (2nd entry)

(gems / die-cuts / flowers)

Stampin' For The Weekend - Anything Goes

Penny's Paper Crafty #168 - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting today.

Hugs,

Crafty Little Fairies DT - Things With Wings

Good morning everyone, and welcome to this week's Crafty Little Fairies challenge. This week it's the turn of the Pink Fairies, and it's my turn to host the challenge this week - yippee!

Thanks as always to everyone who entered last week's Saturday Night at the Movies challenge - we all enjoyed looking at your cards, and I had a great (but difficult!) time choosing the top 3. Don't forget to pop over to the main challenge blog to see if you are a top 3 or prize winner!

Anyhoo, moving on to this week's challenge, we have a lovely easy peasy theme for you, which is

Things With Wings

A very versatile theme I'm sure you'll agree.

We are very pleased this this week to have not one but two sponsors :

with this gorgeous prize package

and

Please remember that to be eligible for either of these two fab prizes you will need to use a stamped image (inked or digi) as the main focus of your project.

The rest of the pink fairies really loved this one and created some fabulous inspirational cards - here's what I did.

I've said it before but I don't mind saying it again ... this adorable bunny is my absolute favourite stamp of all time ... bunny's innocent wondrous expression as he reaches out towards the butterfly just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!! Also the prominence of the butterfly in the image means it always comes straight to mind for any "things with wings" challenges!!

Stamps: LotV "Patchwork Butterfly" and "Vintage Labels - Occasions";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: LotV "Perfect Pair";

Supplies: flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts; lace from John Lewis; pearls from The Hobby House; ribbon and flower spray from my stash;

Tools: classic square and scalloped square nestabilities; Martha Stewart "Floral Vine" deep edge punch; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.

Challenges:

Sketch Saturday #300 - Sketch

Sweet Stampin' - Inspired By a Song, Film or Book

(Book / film - Papillon)

Passion For Promarkers #238 - Butterfly Kisses

Papertake Weekly - Bingo! 

(flowers / punched shapes / lace)

LotV Ideas To Inspire - Bingo!

(ribbon / pearls / flowers)

Created With Love #77 - Think Spring!

Deep Ocean #73 - Lace & Pearls

Ribbon Girl "Lovely Lili" Challenge - Animals

Fab 'n' Funky #207 - Animals (No People Allowed)

Crafty Calendar (March) - Animal Antics

Penny Black & More - So Sweet

Fussy & Fancy #109 - Birthdays

Crafty Creations #258 - Happy Birthday!

In The Pink #39 - Mother's Day  or Card For A Special Lady

Simon Says Wednesday - Mother's Day or Special Girl

(this is a special girly birthday card as sadly I made my last Mother's Day card last year)

Totally Gorjuss #226 - Pink & Green

Crafty Ribbons #80 - Ribbons & Bows

Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes

That's all for today - I hope you will join us this week at Crafty  little Fairies, and look forward to seeing your creations.

Hugs,

Get Well Wishes

Good morning everyone,

Here I am again today with another cute bear from the my new LotV art pad. This was really quite a quick and easy card to make ... I just somehow felt inspired to fit it in before I cleared away from my weekend craft session.

As James is fairly monochrome but is holding a daisy, I thought I would go with some bright fresh spring-like papers, and I was very pleased to see how well the papers went together from an old and a new pack. I then finished off with some bright spring blossoms :-)

Stamps: sentiment from LotV "Vintage Labels - Occasions";

Papers: LotV "Bonnets & Bowties" (leaves) and "Shabby Shack" (green);

Supplies: image from LotV Art pad 23 - "James & Jenny Bear"; flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; buttons from The Ribbon Girl; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: Cheery Lynn "Queen Anne lace" edge die; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.

Challenges:

Allsorts #248 - Spring is Coming

Cute Card Thursday #310 - Springtime

Really Reasonable Ribbon #90 - Show me The Green + Ribbon

Crafty Ribbons #78 - Ribbons & Buttons

Oldie But A Goodie - Buttons

(old items used = background paper & flowers)

Creative Card Crew #56 - Get Well

MAWTT - 4 things beginning with L

(LotV topper, label, layers, leaves)

Thanks very much for visiting today.

Hugs,

Wishing You A Day Full of Happiness

Hi everyone, and hope you are having a great weekend.

I don't normally go much on pre-coloured images and toppers, but i thought I would buy a pack from the new LotV release (as well as my new paper pads!)  to have in "in case of emergencies" lol! 

I think this new pack of images of "James and Jenny bear" is just sooo cute (so cute in fact that I actually have the stamps for two of the images in there!!), so I decided to have a dabble. The one thing it didn't result in though is a "quick card", as I spent som uch time lovingly faffing about with my background and embellishments that the card took every bit as long as one normally does! 

Anyhow, this is what I made ...

Papers: Maja Designs;

Supplies: LotV topper from Art Pad 23 "James & Jenny Bear"; sentiment from Art pad 8 "Sentiments; pearls from The Hobby House; cheesecloth from The Ribbon Girl; ribbon, lace and large pearl brad from my stash;

Tools: "Floral ovals" nestabilities; Joycrafts butterfly die.

Challenges:

Fussy & Fancy #108 - Sketch

The Pink Elephant #239 - Pink

In The Pink #38 - Pink + 1 (pink + brown)

Bearly Mine - One For The Girls

Deep Ocean #72 - Just For A Girl (2nd entry)

ABC - G is for Girls

Dream Valley #76 - Vintage 

Creative Romance - Bingo (pink / lace / ribbon)

Corrosive #194 - Animals

Simon Says Wednesday - Anything Goes with Pearls (2nd entry)

Crafty Catz #220 - Anything Goes

That's all for today ...  back tomorrow with another of these cute bears ! :-)

Hugs,

Shop 'Til You Drop!

Good morning everyone,

It's Thursday again, so it's time for another Crafty Little Fairies challenge, and this week it's the turn of the Pink Fairies to host the challenge.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered last week's challenge - we always love looking at your fabulous entries .. don't forget to check the challenge blog to see if you have won last week's prize.

This week our challenge theme is

Shopping

and we are very pleased to be sponsored  by  Delicious Doodles

who are kindly offering 4 digis of the winner's choice.

Please remember that in order to be eligible for our prize you must use stamping (rubber or digi) as the main focus of your project.

Well I honestly don't know where the past fortnight has gone to, as this is the first card I have managed to make in that time. I'm definitely not fitting in nearly as much crafting as I used to ... but I'm trying to be kind to myself and not put myself under too much pressure - after all crafting is supposed to be fun!!

Personally I definitely think shopping is fun if  I'm in the mood for it, so I thought this was a really sweet challenge. Here's what I did - do check out the main challenge  blog for some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the DT.

Admittedly I don't have many stamp that fit this theme, so this one sprang fairly quickly to mind!  I may have had this stamp a long time, but I still think it's pretty cute!

Stamps: LotV "Dropping the shopping!" and "Christmas sentiment tags";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; image decorated with glimmer dust;

Papers: Wild Rose Studio "Annabelle's Christmas" (free with craft magazine);

Supplies: flowers and pearls from Wild Orchid Crafts; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: large classic circle and lacy circle nestabilities; Leone Em "Ash Branch" leaf die; Cuttlebug "Snowflakes" embossing folder.

Challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Sketchie (rotated 180° )

Fab 'n' Funky #205 - Christmas 

Winter Wonderland - The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Allsorts #247 - Ladies' Day

Deep Ocean #72 - Just For A Girl

Stampin' for the Weekend - Flower Power

Creatalicious #60 - Pearls & Glitter

Divas By Design - Make It Sparkle!

Kaboodle #212 - Use Ribbon

ABC Christmas - D is for Die Cut

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes With Pearls

Christmas Cards #13 - Anything Goes

That's all for today - hope you can join us over at Crafty Little Fairies this week.

Hugs,